ARE YOU READY?
[p. 20] ARE YOU READY?
The nearness of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is being pressed on many hearts at the present time. Many children of God believe that we are living in the critical and solemn moments which immediately precede the coming of the Bridegroom. This momentous event — fraught with unspeakable consequences to both saint and sinner — is brought before our consideration by the Spirit of God in the parable of the Ten Virgins.
“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage; and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25: 1 - 13).
The kingdom of heaven embraces all who take the ground of Christian profession; it includes all who own that Jesus is Lord, and who receive the truths of Christianity. But [p. 21] amongst the many who take this ground there are tares, bad fish which will have to be thrown away, foolish virgins, and wicked servants. They are in the place of privilege and responsibility as professing to own Christ as Lord and assenting to the truths of the Christian faith, but they have no vital and saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are in the midst of a professedly Christian people; the Bible is taught in our schools, and found almost universally in our homes. An oath upon the Scriptures is recognised as the most solemn safeguard against untruth in the courts of law. But these very facts make it all the more necessary that we should recognise the immense difference which subsists between the foolish virgins and the wise. It is surely of the highest importance that we should consider seriously whether we ourselves are amongst the wise.
A moment draws near which will effectually and for ever separate the foolish from the wise; but it will then be too late to consider or repent. I beseech you now, therefore, while it is called today, to give earnest attention to this solemn matter.
In Scripture the number ten is connected with human responsibility. For example, there are ten commandments in the law. So here the ten virgins represent the responsible Christian profession on earth. We are told they “went forth to meet the bridegroom”. When the gospel was first proclaimed in the world large numbers received it, and came out from Judaism and heathendom “to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven”. All Christians professedly “went forth to meet the bridegroom”.
But, though outwardly alike, and animated apparently by the same motives, Christians have from the first been composed of two classes. Many have, like Simon in Acts 8, believed and been baptised, of whom it might be truly said that they have had “neither part nor lot in this matter”.
[p. 22] Lookers-on might discern no difference and make no distinction between the virgins. All might be apparelled in the same festal robes, and all might carry lamps of the same kind. But five of them were lacking in the most essential point. They “took no oil with them”. The most magnificent oil-lamp in the world without oil is absolutely useless for any practical purpose. And of what value is a profession of Christianity, if the soul is not really converted to God? It may serve for a time to silence the voice of conscience and to deceive a foolish heart, but in the solemn hour for which nothing will avail but divine reality it will be found altogether worthless.
Throughout Scripture oil is a type of the Holy Spirit, and the essential difference between the wise and foolish virgins is that one class have the Holy Spirit and the other have not. All the true grace and power of Christianity is connected with the Holy Spirit, and if a man has not the Holy Spirit he must be a stranger to it all. Believers are not only born again by the Spirit, but they receive the Spirit as an indwelling Person. This is of such vital importance that we must enlarge a little upon it.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is consequent upon redemption being accomplished. It was not until Jesus had died and risen and been glorified at the right hand of God that the Holy Spirit was given. No saint on earth was ever indwelt by the Holy Spirit before the ascension of Christ. Prophets and holy men of God had been moved and energised by Him to an extraordinary degree, but they were not permanently indwelt by the Spirit. John 7: 39 tells us that “the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified”. But now redemption has been accomplished, and the One who wrought it has been exalted to the right hand of God, and from that glorified One the Holy Spirit has come down to dwell in those who believe on Him, and who know through grace the efficacy of His finished work.
[p. 23] There are many persons in whom God has wrought conviction of sin, and who are in a certain way looking to Jesus for salvation, who do not know what it is to be justified. In many cases this is because they have never heard the full, clear gospel of the grace of God. They have not received the Spirit because they have not yet accepted by faith the Lord Jesus and His finished work as all their salvation. If they did so it would set their souls for ever at rest, and the Holy Spirit would seal them, for He is here to seal those who receive the word of truth, the gospel of their salvation (Ephesians 1: 13).
If you are a believer on the Lord Jesus, and yet have not perfect peace with God, it is clear that you have only received part of the gospel. The Lord Jesus has been “delivered for our offences” (Romans 4: 25). He has borne our sins, and removed all the judgment that was due to them by bearing it in His own body on the tree. He has been made sin for us, and in our place and condemnation He — the just and Holy One — has glorified God. We were subject to the sentence of death according to divine justice. He has come under that sentence for us according to divine grace. He has thus settled every question, and silenced every accusing voice.
But He has also been “raised again for our justification”. The Lord Jesus has been placed by God’s resurrection power beyond the reach of sin, judgment, or death. No power of evil can touch Him, death hath no more dominion over Him, no shade or cloud can ever come upon His acceptance with God. Man — in the person of Christ risen — is in a place of cloudless and eternal favour before God. But He was “raised again for our justification”. He holds that place on behalf of all who believe on His name. He holds it that we may learn in Him the measure of our righteousness and acceptance with God. Through infinite divine grace that risen and glorified One is the righteousness of every believer.
[p. 24] It is the justified believer, the one who knows the risen Christ as his righteousness, who receives the Spirit. It is on the ground that our righteousness and acceptance are perfect that we receive the Spirit. Not that we are perfect, or indeed anything but guilty and lost sinners, but Christ has borne all the judgment that was due to us, so that He might be our righteousness, and HE is perfect. The Spirit is given because of what Christ is, He is given to shed the love of God abroad in the believer’s heart, and to make us conscious of the favour in which we are set by divine grace.
Now let me ask, do you know anything of this? Is CHRIST your righteousness? Have you received the Spirit? Have you oil in your vessel? The foolish virgins “took no oil with them”.
We need not dwell upon the statement that “while the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept”. It will suffice to say that scarcely had the apostle John been laid in his grave, about the end of the first century, when the promise of the absent One was forgotten; the church ceased to look for Christ’s return. Wise and foolish virgins alike slumbered and slept. An awful slumber of indifference to the absent but coming Bridegroom settled down upon the church for long centuries.
It is evident that such a state of things could not be allowed to continue until the Bridegroom came. God — jealous for the glory of His Son, and mindful of what was due to the coming One — would have the sleeping virgins roused. And to this end, “At midnight there was a cry made, Behold the bridegroom, go ye out to meet him”.
More than a century ago God graciously revived “that blessed hope” amongst His children, and truths connected with the coming of the Lord were published far and wide. There can be no doubt that the midnight cry has gone forth. Many thousands have been awakened thereby, and [p. 25] there has been to a considerable extent a trimming of lamps and a going forth to meet the Bridegroom.
It is certain that we are living at the present moment in the interval between the shout that heralds the Bridegroom’s approach and His actual arrival. The exact moment of His coming is unknown, but it cannot now be long delayed. It is of vital importance to be READY. Those who know the grace of God, whose sins are forgiven, and who are indwelt and led by the Spirit are ready. Is it not high time to awake and trim your lamp?
“Give us of your oil”, say the foolish virgins to the wise, “for our lamps are going out”. What a discovery to make when the Bridegroom is at hand! Of what avail are the forms and privileges of a religious life, or the cherished dogmas of an orthodox creed, or moral comeliness which may be irreproachable in the eyes of men, if the heart is not illuminated with divine grace, as possessing righteousness in Christ and having the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father? Lacking this, Christianity is an empty shell — an oil-less lamp — it is really Christianity WITHOUT CHRIST.
Nor can the wise share their oil with the foolish. The children of believing parents, the husbands of believing wives, the near and dear relatives of God’s people, must go for themselves to buy. Thank God, there is still space for repentance and for faith. The day of salvation lingers, and it is still the accepted time. But great is the peril of delay.
“While they went to buy the bridegroom came”. How solemn to think of this! Souls awakened, interested, exercised, and apparently moving in the right direction_, but NOT READY when the Bridegroom came, and therefore shut out for judgment. It is possible that you may have been awakened to some measure of concern about your soul, you may be to some extent interested in the gospel, and Satan would fain persuade you that because you have these good desires and better feelings you are sure to be all right at last. Be not [p. 26] deceived. You are very likely to be left behind for judgment and the lake of fire. Nothing short of the knowledge and reception by faith of the Lord Jesus Christ will avail. There is no security until you know Him as all your salvation.
“And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not”. Today this is prophecy; tomorrow it may be history. Tomorrow the redeemed company, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, may have gone in with the Bridegroom. Tomorrow the door of access to Christ — so widely open now — may be shut. Then the unsanctified professor of religion, destitute of faith in Christ, ignorant of the grace of God, and having not the Spirit, will be outside and unknown by the Lord.
In view of this solemn event, with all its stupendous issues, and in view also of the fact that it may take place at any moment — in such an hour as ye think not — let me ask again, ARE YOU READY?